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Chapter 8
When I opened my eyes, it was morning.
‘When did I end up in bed?’
I blinked up at the ornate ceiling, which had somehow become familiar by now.
Then I retraced my last memory.
I had definitely been in the garden, watching the two of them loading arrows into the mechanisms, smiling to myself in satisfaction as I thought, ‘Our protagonists really are such a handsome man and beautiful woman.’
‘…Looks like I fell asleep just like that.’
I vaguely remembered someone carrying me in my sleep.
Looks like I troubled Davin again.
Stretching my body, I slowly sat up.
Perhaps hearing me stir, Lana spoke from outside the canopy surrounding my bed.
“Miss, are you awake?”
“Mm-hm.”
As soon as I answered, Lana pulled back the canopy curtains.
Bright sunlight poured in along with her appearance, and I beamed at her, spreading my arms wide.
Seeing me, Lana smiled brightly and gave me a tight hug.
“Good morning, Lana.”
“Good morning, Miss.”
I really loved it when Lana hugged me like this.
When I had first possessed this body and was too terrified to sleep, Lana had never left my side and would often comfort me like this.
After holding me for a long while, Lana finally pulled back and asked,
“Would you like some water to wash up?”
“Mm-hm.”
Soon, a basin of water was brought before me.
But when I lazily only wet the tips of my fingers and merely picked the sleep from my eyes, Lana narrowed her eyes and scolded me.
“Miss, you can’t do a cat’s wash.”
“…No, I just got the eye crust off first. I was about to wash properly.”
“You said that yesterday too.”
“I told you, that’s not it…! Stop treating me like a baby!”
“But you are acting like a baby when you only wipe your eye crust!”
Ugh, Lana’s so mean.
My face turned red, and I quickly washed properly before getting up.
After changing into indoor clothes and stepping outside the canopy, I saw Davin standing outside the door Lana had already opened wide.
I greeted him.
“Good morning, Davin.”
“Yes, Lady Anis. Good morning.”
Davin smiled softly at me.
He was dazzling again today.
Standing in the shade, his silver hair shimmered faintly lavender, while his violet eyes held traces of blue.
To be able to appreciate a face that looked as though a god had meticulously sculpted it first thing in the morning… what kind of good deeds had Anis done in her past life?
‘As expected, looking at beautiful things really is good for mental health.’
While I sat there admiring Davin’s face in satisfaction, Lana cleaned off the table and said,
“Please sit for a moment. I’ll bring breakfast.”
“Okay.”
I sat at the table bathed in morning sunlight and yawned.
Davin approached and sat across from me.
His hair, which had looked cool-toned in the shade, now glowed warmly in the sunlight.
“Will you be going out again today?”
“No, I’m not going far. I’m going to rest. Yesterday was exhausting.”
After spending so long cooped up indoors, it seemed my stamina had bottomed out.
To think I had fallen asleep outside just from visiting Mr. Smith’s office.
As I sighed dramatically, Davin chuckled.
“You’ll need to improve your stamina.”
“Seriously. At this rate, I won’t even be able to run away when I really need to.”
When I pouted, Davin reassured me calmly.
“As long as I’m by your side, there will never be a reason for Lady Anis to run.”
“Still… shouldn’t I at least have basic physical strength…?”
Muttering that, I asked him,
“Even if I don’t go out today, should I at least take a walk? Or would the garden be too dangerous?”
“If you walk toward the lake, it should be fine. Most of the mechanisms I installed are concentrated in the garden.”
But the moment Davin mentioned the lake, I froze.
In the original story, Anis died because of an incident at the lake.
At first, everyone thought she had simply fallen in while trying to cool off…
But that wasn’t true.
It was the magic circle the Duke Raphtan family had installed near the lake.
That was what killed Anis.
‘Come to think of it… Davin still doesn’t know there’s something at the lake.’
In the original story, Davin was the one who eventually discovered the magic circle—but right now, he was too busy protecting me to even suspect something so dangerous was hidden there.
Should I tell him?
It was a serious problem, so I hesitated.
But if he asked how I knew about the magic circle, what would I even say?
Reading my hesitation, Davin carefully suggested,
“…If you dislike the lake, perhaps we could take a walk outside the estate instead? Since you’ll be with me, it won’t be dangerous.”
It seemed Davin assumed I instinctively feared the lake because I had nearly drowned there and lost my memories afterward.
Honestly, using that excuse to avoid going near the lake wasn’t a bad idea.
So I nodded.
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
And just like that, today’s plan became: take a walk with Davin, then rest.
After finishing the breakfast Lana brought me, I was changing clothes for our walk behind the folding screen she had set up when someone knocked on the door.
Davin opened it.
“What is it?”
“Um… there’s been word from the imperial palace…”
From behind the screen, where I was changing into outdoor clothes, I faintly heard Jean mention something about the imperial family and the emperor.
When I emerged fully dressed, Davin was standing there with a serious expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“A royal messenger just arrived. His Majesty the Emperor says he will be visiting the estate sometime today.”
“…He’s coming today?”
“Yes.”
I frowned instinctively.
‘Ugh, why is he coming already?’
I wasn’t happy about it.
Should I not have invited him after all?
No, if I hadn’t, I would’ve had to go to the imperial palace myself…
Even though I had technically been the one to demand that the emperor come in person, now that the moment had actually arrived, I regretted it.
What if the emperor really was allied with the people trying to kill me?
What if he tried to murder me right in front of me?
Terrified, I looked at Davin—
But his expression remained as calm as ever.
…It’ll probably be okay, right?
Seeing his composed face helped me settle down.
Right.
Even if the emperor brought every imperial knight with him, they still wouldn’t be able to beat Davin.
Besides, I needed to meet the emperor eventually.
I had to tell him I wanted to break off the engagement.
‘Still… announcing a same-day visit without warning? How rude.’
Smiling crookedly, I asked Davin,
“When is he coming?”
Davin answered awkwardly,
“His Majesty said he’ll come whenever his schedule opens up…”
I grimaced.
‘What the heck does that mean? So I’m just supposed to stay here all day waiting?’
Silence briefly filled the room.
I glared unhappily at the bright morning sunlight streaming through the window.
It was perfect weather for a walk, too.
“…First, before His Majesty arrives, I think we should deactivate the mechanisms in the garden. It would be disastrous if one of the traps attacked the emperor.”
At Davin’s words, I nodded.
I sat beneath the tree I had leaned against yesterday and watched as Davin disabled the mechanisms he had installed.
Thunk— clank.
He wandered around the garden, tinkering with various devices and flipping parts over before eventually dusting off his hands and walking back to me.
“All done?”
“Yes. For now, I’ve disabled them.”
I had expected it to take longer, but it was surprisingly quick.
Blinking, I patted the space beside me.
“Sit down and rest for a bit. It’s cool here.”
“Yes.”
We sat side by side in the tree’s shade.
Soon, Lana emerged from the mansion carrying a tray with cups.
“Wow, you’re already done? Sir Knight, good work!”
Standing beside us, Lana smiled brightly as she handed us cups filled with orange juice.
“Fresh oranges came in this morning, so I made juice.”
“Wow!”
The refreshing citrus scent made me beam.
I eagerly reached to drink it—
But Davin stopped me.
From his pocket, he pulled out a small glass vial containing a silver needle.
“You seem to have forgotten the silver stick for testing.”
Sharp eyes, huh?
At his words, Lana muttered awkwardly,
“Oh, right.”
Since I trusted Lana completely, I puffed my cheeks in annoyance, wondering if he really needed to be that cautious—
But Davin firmly ignored my expression and dipped the silver needle into the orange juice.
Ssssss—
The moment the needle touched the juice, it turned pitch black and began to melt.
My eyes widened instantly.
Clang!
In a flash, Davin shot to his feet, drew his sword, and pointed it directly at Lana.
